2010 1000MC Training Ride 1 - Richmond Park

LEJOG Training day 1.

Sunny and dry. 5C. Objective: 10 Laps of Richmond Park (120kms)

08.30. Dirk turns into my road and over a coffee laced with honey we quickly set to changing his touring bike into a roadbike. We get tubes and tyres onto his new wheels, switch gear cassettes over and take excess weight like luggage racks off. Oliver joins us at 09.00 for a coffee and a little later we’re off. 09.30 Roehampton Café, Richmond Park. We meet up with Damian and Oliver’s brother in law. Deuan had a meeting so unfortunately could not make it today.

After a bit of ogling Damian’s new PlanetX carbon racer we click into our pedals and head out onto the cold but sunny and dry tarmac. Oliver and I quickly settle into a 35km/h pace and take the headwind. Half a lap later we look back to see who will take their turn at the front but it turns out we pulled a big gap. So big in fact that we can’t see the other guys anywhere. We slow down a little but by the time we complete the first lap there’s still no sign. Rather than stand still in the cold to wait up for them we decide to hammer it and to lap them to join the group back up. So we push it. Lap2. Lap3. Still no sign of them, so we push it a bit harder. Lap4. Still nada. Lap5. Where are these guys? We turn into the parking lot at the Roehampton Café to wait. And find Dirk and Damian standing there with the entire front end of Damian’s bike in pieces. Turns out PlanetX installed the headset in Damian’s new bike wrongly, making steering very heavy. Luckily I have gotten to know bikes very well while building up my own, so I whip out an Allen key and 10 minutes of tinkering and we’re ready to go again. Damian needs to head back to Ruislip though to prepare for a gig later that night, so Dirk, Oliver and myself head out again into Richmond Park while Damian tackles the 22mile ride home. Now chilled to the bones due to standing around in sweated up cycle gear in low temperatures, we just can’t get warm anymore and find it difficult to get back into a rhythm. Two freezing cold laps later we give in and head back over to my place. Not a great start as we were 3 laps short of the objective, but we did cover 95kms total. Dirk confessed to doing only half laps with Damian though, cutting through past the Royal Ballet School. It explains why we never saw them again - they probably turned onto the main straight just after we had passed the short cut every time...

1000 Mile Challenge 2010 - LEJOG

LEJOG 2010 - THE SECOND 1000MILE CHALLENGE

In May the second 1000Mile Challenge will kick off. Last year my good friend Dirk Bischof rode the first in what may just become our yearly way of putting our cycling prowess in the service of charity. Whereas Dirk’s ride was in Japan, this year we are staying closer to home by tackling the classic Lands End to John O Groats cycle ride, with the aim of raising money for a little-known but excellent charity called Project Peru. Although the path from this most South-western point to most North-eastern point of the United Kingdom has been beaten by many cyclists and runners over the years, it is a big event and one not to be taken lightly. Aside from the 1100 mile distance there are some seriously steep hills and although we are all hoping it will be dry and sunny the whole way we are likely to see some strong winds and lashing rain too. After all, this is Britain - the weather is impossible to predict here. I will be accompanied on the trip by my good friends Dirk Bischof (MD of the charity Embrace), Deuan German (Finance Manager for the charity CEN), Oliver Hoare (Head Information Assurance for the Olympic Delivery Authority London 2012) and Damian Bell (MD of Supply Direct).

There will also be riders joining us on certain stages. If you want to come along, look at our schedule and tell us which stage you’d like to join. You will need a racing bike and stamina and we'll also ask you to raise some money for the charity. Our daily mileage quota is around 100 so come and challenge yourself! Of course I will keep you updated here on our training, preparation and during the ride itself. We will also be filming the trip and posting ride updates on Vimeo and Youtube, with a documentary of our experience also in the works.

As I mentioned, we are raising money for the charity Project Peru, a great charity which is completely volunteer-based. It is run by a lovely couple, David and Carole. Both in their sixties, they really are an example of how much can be achieved if you put time into your passion. Their charity supports children in the desert shanty towns of Lima, Peru with food, shelter and education. They also offer real, ongoing and practical help to local community groups so please be generous and help us to help them by donating any amount of money via my www.justgiving.co.uk/Eric-Jorrin site to donate. Aside from individual donations we are of course also very interested in talking to companies and organisations who may wish to sponsor us. We can offer a lot of exposure in return, so do get in touch.

The ride itself is not just called a 1000Mile Challenge. Although the distance from Land's End, in the furthest South West of the UK, to John O Groats, the furthest North East in Scotland is 874 miles as the crow flies, the route we are taking is a bit longer! The distance we expect cover in 10 days of cycling is about 1100 miles and interspersed with mountainous hills, unreliable weather and poor roads. It is sure to be an adventure, although I have to say I am not looking forward to lashing rain at the same time as climbing a 20%+ hill. And although all of us cycle on a regular basis, riding 100+ miles every day for 10 days solid is something that requires some more training and preparation than a sturdy breakfast alone. To prepare we have set up 10 training rides in the months leading up to the ride.

Of Acting and Cycling

After a long time pursuing music and other interests, I am about to splash back into acting, with a couple of things in the pipeline. The new showreel will be ready in the near future, I am head-shotting and the new site will be up and running soon too. Watch this space!

I will also be keeping you entertained (I hope) with tales about another of my great - new - loves. I have become a bit of a cycle-nut over the past years, and like the great Robin Williams have become pretty darn serious about the whole thing too. The switch from the utilitarian Dutch perspective on cycling -how to get from A to B on a 30-year old bike- to riding 100 miles for fun has been amazing. I thoroughly recommend it. You go fast enough to cover distance, slow enough to smell, see and hear everything around you. Whooshing through empty country lanes at great speed on a smoothly whirring machine, wind in your hair, enjoying some good exercise and being next to carbon neutral doing it…come to think of it, it is probably one of the most enjoyable things you can do with your clothes on.

A television documentary is in development about the 2011 cycle race from Paris to Dakar I plan to compete in, training has commenced for LEJOG, a 1600 kilometer charity cycle ride with my buddies scheduled for May 2010, and plans are underway for organising an 1800 kilometre cycle stage race in a warm location.

And ... Action!